


Distraction

by ABrighterDarkness



Series: Bucky Barnes Bingo [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Injury, M/M, Mission Fic, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23473903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABrighterDarkness/pseuds/ABrighterDarkness
Summary: It wasn’t the first time that Bucky’s attention had been drawn away from his task on an op when that tell-tale flash of red passed through his peripheral.Written for Bucky Barnes Bingo square U5 - Seeing RedAnd Tony Stark Bingo Card 3089 square T5 - Secret Admirer
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Bucky Barnes Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687492
Comments: 17
Kudos: 119
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> Another couple of squares filled with this nifty idea that hit me over the last few days! I hope that you enjoy! It's unbeta'd so any mistakes or oddness you stumble across is 100% my own.
> 
> Written for both Tony Stark and Bucky Barnes Bingo, all respective card information is listed in the end notes :)

Bucky still couldn’t say he particularly  _ enjoyed  _ going on Ops but he liked the ones he went on now a hell of a lot better than the missions that the Russians and Hydra sent him on. His knock off serum had patched up his brain well enough that he could say that with abject certainty. And he had to admit that there was something about being a part of a team that was  _ almost _ as committed to taking down what remained of HYDRA as he was. 

As far as missions went though, Bucky preferred this sort of Op. The ones that took the team to more remote locations as opposed to the ones that targeted major cities. For one, casualty counts tended to be a lot lower when they weren’t attempting to protect and evacuate civilians while simultaneously fighting off whoever happened to be the asshole du jour. 

His line of sight was a hell of a lot cleaner too. It was one thing to aim his shot between tree branches or boulders, it was a whole ‘nother story to try and aim between the bodies of panicked bystanders. Unsurprisingly, Steve tended to take exception to Bucky attempting the second, even if he  _ was _ a skilled enough sniper to make the shot. He couldn’t deny though, that half the reason he even considered taking those shots was to see how worked up he could get Steve once the Op was over and the cowl came off. Bucky didn’t--and never had--respond to that scowl the way others seemed to.

Bucky’s eyes narrowed as he swept his scope to Steve’s location. Steve was taking on his assailants with the elegance of movement and ease that the serum had given him. A visual that Bucky could only recently remember appreciating just as much decades ago as he did in that particular moment. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by some Hydra asshole who thought it was a clever idea to try to sneak up on Steve. Yeah, that wasn’t gonna work. 

He knew, without a doubt, that Steve saw or at very least  _ heard _ the fucker. But, as usual, Steve didn’t break his stride, keeping his attention locked onto the two men in front of him. Bucky gave a mental sigh, equally grateful for the show of trust and annoyed as hell that the man still left his own back unprotected, and easily dispatched the not-so-sneaky bastard with a well-timed twitch of his finger against the rifle’s trigger. 

Steve had  _ finally _ stopped acknowledging his position, but through his rifle scope, Bucky could still see the small, smug twitch of Steve’s lips as a “Thanks Buck,” came across the com.  _ What a fucking punk. _ Bucky pretended for just the moment that it hadn’t been an affectionate thought.

A flash of red passing by overhead drew Bucky’s attention away from his scope. He had spent  _ decades _ being--brutally--conditioned to not allow distraction, no matter the op, no matter the reason. But for just a brief moment, Bucky couldn’t quite help himself as he watched the Iron Man armor dart through the sky, hands spread, palms out and ready to blast through their opponents. 

Despite being strictly machine--aside, obviously, from the man piloting the suit--Bucky couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t move in a robotic fashion. There was a gracefulness to the way Iron Man flew and fought. There was a beautiful elegance in the lines and curves and edges of the suit itself that drew his eye just as effectively as the movements.

It wasn’t the first time that Bucky’s attention had been drawn away from his task on an op when that tell-tale flash of red passed through his peripheral. It wasn’t the first time he let his attention linger longer than he really ought to, eyes following the movements and tracing over the lines of the panels that made up the suit, considering they were on a hostile op. Thankfully, he was cognizant enough to only allow himself such a distraction when he was acting as sniper and not when Steve put him in the field. Steve would never let him live it down if he took a hit just because he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes on his task.

To be fair though, it wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen Steve lose his train of thought or trail off mid-sentence when Tony Stark entered a room or caught him watching the man a little longer than might strictly be appropriate. As Bucky’s eyes lingered a moment longer on the bold red of the Iron Man suit overhead, he thought that he could sympathize with Steve’s distraction. It was a pretty damned compelling sight.

Bucky smirked at the thought as he tore his attention from the suit and ducked his head back in line with his rifle, scanning the various members of the team to see if there was anywhere a spare bullet or two might be of use. His eyes narrowed as he scanned Black Widow’s position. Six men. He had no doubt that she  _ could _ handle them but…

“Need a hand, Widow?” He asked with a smirk.

_ “Don’t need one, no,”  _ She answered. Bucky could hear her low grunt as she flipped one of the assholes to the ground. Bucky was pretty sure that one wouldn’t be getting back up again.  _ “But if you’re bored...” _

“Don’t worry,” Bucky said. “I won’t steal all your fun.” With that he took careful aim and picked off three of the six in rapid succession.

_ “Ladies and gentlemen, time to blow this popsicle stand,” _ Tony called over the comm.  _ “As in take cover ‘cause the popsicle stand is about to blow. ” _

Bucky was on his feet in an instant, his rifle slung across his back as he dropped silently from his perch and took off at a sprint toward the team. “How much time? Know a thing or two about explosives.”

_ “I’m sure you do Cyborg but unless my scanners are wrong--which they’re not, for the record--we’ve got less than a minute before this nice little hidey hole is a hidey-crater.” _

_ “Hold your position, Soldier, _ ” Steve-- _ Cap-- _ ordered over the line.

“Too late,” Bucky said without slowing. “Kinda hard for me to pick off a bomb that’s inside a building with a rifle don’t ya think?” He could hear Steve’s low sigh of frustration and couldn’t help but smirk. Even back in during the war, Bucky had a hard time following  _ Captain America’s _ orders, let alone having  _ Steve _ order him around. He’d gotten better at playing along for the sake of the team but it still felt good to ruffle Stevie’s feathers. Especially when it was justified. 

_ “Just so you know,” _ Tony said, Bucky could hear the mocking frustration thing the man tended to do when he was actually concerned but wouldn’t be caught actually saying so,  _ “You all suck at this taking cover thing.” _

Bucky flicked his eyes to the sky briefly enough to note Iron Man’s location in relation to the building that was supposedly set to blow, “Don’t see you in a rush to get out of there either.”

_ “The suit can handle whatever this throws,” _ Tony defended.  _ “Squishy types probably can’t.” _

_ “You do realize that you’re about the squishiest one here, right?” _ Natalia said dryly.

_ “Enough chatter,” _ Steve interrupted the banter.  _ “Everybody cover. Now.” _

Even from the distance he stood, Bucky could feel the rumbling through the ground as the bomb detonated. Despite the instruction, Bucky didn’t slow, just raised his metal arm high enough to protect his head and face from potential debris. A few moments later, Bucky closed in on the team’s last location and slowed to a cautious jog.

_ “Report,” _ Steve’s voice demanded through the comms, coughs breaking through on either side of the command.

_ “No major injuries.”  _ Natalia. Bucky checked her off his mental roster.

_ “All good, Cap. Not reporting any major damage to the suit, either.”  _ Tony.

_ “I was far enough out that I didn’t even get dusted.” _ Clint.

“All clear here too,” Bucky said, attempting to tamp down his concern as he maneuvered through the rubble. “What about you, Steve? Anything we ought to know? You were closest to the blast.”

_ “I’m fine.” _

Bucky knew that tone. It echoed through his memory, bits and pieces flashing through his mind of a short and scrawny punk with a steady stream of blood seeping from his nose trying his damnedest to shrug him off, of post-ops during the war when he would try to pretend everything was peachy as he limped away. He automatically narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “Ya wanna try that one again there Rogers?” 

Steve huffed in annoyance but now that he was listening for it, Bucky could hear the bitten back pain in the brief sound. Bucky edged into the blast area, eyes scanning through the wreckage quickly until he found Steve nearly in the same place he had been when Bucky had watched him through the scope. He rushed forward, pace quickening at the way Steve was slumped on the ground, leaning heavily against the large boulder behind him with his hand pressed against his abdomen.

“We need to get him back to the jet,” Bucky called through the comms as he finally approached. He carefully moved Steve’s hand out of the way and winced sympathetically at the exposed puncture wound. He pressed Steve’s hand back over it firmly and did a quick scan, shutting down his thoughts when his mind drew comparisons to the way Steve’s battered form looked now to what it had looked like on that helicarrier over the Potomac. “Stark, do you think you can take Steve back to the jet? He ain’t gonna be able to hold on.”

“No, don’t need a carry out,” Steve protested, slowly getting to his feet and trying to push away from the boulder. Bucky lunged forward just in time, catching Steve around the waist and hauling his heavy body against his own to help support his weight.

“Sure you don’t, Stevie,” Bucky drawled, sinking firmly into sarcasm to hide his worry. As soon as his left arm was secured around his waist, Steve’s body sunk against him, that alone told Bucky more than Steve would ever admit aloud. “Tony?”

“Got him,” Tony said, landing smoothly just in front of the pair of supersoldiers and dropping the faceplate, easily maneuvering the suit closer until he could band his arm around Steve’s waist from the opposite side. Steve bit back a hiss of pain when the grip jostled some injury unseen beneath his uniform. “Banner heading your way, set up triage.”

“I’m  _ fine,” _ Steve insisted, Bucky was pretty sure that he was convincing absolutely no one.

“Clint and I will take care of clean up here,” Natasha said, approaching the group. There’s a slow bleed at her temple and she’s holding her right arm stiffly but as far as Bucky could tell, that seemed to be the extent of her injuries. The head injury would be concerning but her eyes were sharp and her speech clear. “I’ve already put a call in to Maria. We’ll be fine until they can send a second jet. You and Tony go ahead and get him back to civilization.”

“The serum--” Steve tried to spit out.

“Yeah, yeah, Cap, we hear you,” Tony interrupted. “But I know as well as you do that the serum is going to try to heal you around all those pieces inside of you and you’ll just have to have it all cut out later anyway.”

“Don’t wanna end up all scared up like me,” Bucky added with a quip, grimacing slightly at the dark glare Steve sent him. Yeah, he should’ve known that little comment wouldn’t fly no matter how out of it Steve seemed. He sighed and fell silent, focusing instead on transferring Steve’s weight as carefully as possible into the careful metal grip that was just as cautiously taking over.

When the Iron Man suit took off with Steve in tow, Bucky couldn’t help but stop and watch for just a short moment. Never let it be said that he didn’t love Steve Rogers with everything he was and then some, but Bucky had to admit that it was quite a sight. He wondered what Steve would have to say considering his own fascination with the man inside that suit of armor. It was only  _ after _ that observation that Bucky realized what he’d done. That he had willingly passed over Steve’s care to someone else, to Tony Stark. That was enough to draw him to a pause, realizing belatedly that he was smiling softly after them, despite his concern for Steve.

He would be alright, Bucky knew. Steve hadn’t been wrong that the serum would prevent those injuries from being fatal. And between Tony and Banner, Steve was in good hands, even if they weren’t Bucky’s own hands. That had never kept Bucky from worrying though. 

“Look good together, don’t they?”

Bucky blinked, the only indication he allowed himself to display of his surprise, and glanced down to his left where Natalia stood just next to him with a knowing smirk. He considered his response briefly before settling on a slight shrug, “Didn’t figure Stevie’d appreciate being tossed over my shoulder and carried back to the jet.”

She hummed slightly, expression twisted into obvious amused disbelief. “No, battered bloody or not, Steve Rogers can be stupidly prideful.”

Bucky snorted, “Nothin’s changed there.”

“So I’ve heard,” Natalia said with a fond smile. Bucky was struck, not for the first time, at how well Steve had carved out a little family in this new century that Bucky knew he still struggled in. “Those two have tiptoed around one another since day one, you know.”

“Which two?” Bucky asked blandly.

“Steve and Tony,” She answered, though the look she shot him made it clear that she didn’t buy his clueless act.

Bucky smiled and shook his head with a fond laugh, “For as bold as brass as he is when fists are flyin’, he’s got not an ounce of that confidence when it comes to people he cares about.”

“Neither of them do,” Natalia agreed. She tilted her head consideringly for a moment before offering a small smile. “Go keep an eye on your boys, Barnes. Clint and I got it covered here.”

Sometimes, Bucky thought wryly, that woman was entirely too observant for anyone’s good. But he didn’t bother saying so, he figured she knew that too. He huffed a small laugh and nudged her with his elbow before ducking away to follow where he had last seen the streak of red carrying a painfully large piece of his heart back to the waiting quinjet.

**Author's Note:**

> Bucky Barnes Bingo  
> Title: Distraction  
> Collaborator(s): ABrighterDarkness  
> Link  
> Square Filled: U5 - Seeing Red  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, pre-Stuckony  
> Rating: T  
> Major Tags/Triggers/Warnings: Character Injury  
> Summary: It wasn’t the first time that Bucky’s attention had been drawn away from his task on an op when that tell-tale flash of red passed through his peripheral.  
> Word Count: 2461
> 
> Tony Stark Bingo  
> Title: Distraction  
> Collaborator Name: ABrighterDarkness  
> Card Number: 3089  
> Link (Tumblr, Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, DeviantArt, etc.):  
> Square Filled (Letter/number AND prompt): T5 - Secret Admirer  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Steve/Bucky, pre-Steve/Bucky/Tony  
> Rating: T  
> Major Tags: Character Injury  
> Summary: It wasn’t the first time that Bucky’s attention had been drawn away from his task on an op when that tell-tale flash of red passed through his peripheral.  
> Word Count: 2461


End file.
